The Keto diet has gained immense popularity in recent times, with celebrities, fitness experts, and famous food bloggers singing its praises. However, like most dietary plans and weight loss programs, myths surround them that can deter people from trying them out.
In this article, let’s talk about some of these fallacies thrown at the Keto diet and have a correct understanding of what this highly effective program offers. You can also click here after a stressful day to relax your mind with some top-notch online casino games.
Here are seven common Keto diet claims:
1. Carbs are not allowed on a Keto diet
2. Fatty food is Keto food
3. The Keto diet is just a fad
4. The Keto diet lets everyone lose weight
5. You can’t sustain a Keto diet
6. Keto is risky for your health
7. It’s just another version of the Atkins Diet
What’s a Keto Diet Anyway?
A ketogenic diet is a dietary plan aiming to place the body into a ketosis metabolic state for efficient fat burning. Also known as the keto diet, this process replaces the carbohydrates in one’s body with fat through the intake of food that has low carbs and high-fat content.
While weight reduction is a primary benefit of the diet, other positive effects also include drastic reductions in a person’s blood sugar and insulin levels. Additionally, the Keto diet encourages the production of ketones from the liver that increases energy supply in the person’s brain.
Now that we know more about the Keto diet and its excellent health benefits, let’s inspect some of these Keto myths and see if they hold sufficient ground, shall we?
1. Fiction: Carbs are Not Allowed on a Keto Diet
Fact: Whole, unprocessed carbohydrates keep the body healthy while maintaining a low carb count.
With the basic description of what a Keto diet is, it’s easy to assume that the diet eliminates carbohydrate consumption from the program. After all, we want to replace the carb content of the body with fat.
While that is the goal, there are tons of food items out there that, although they are presumably high in carbs, are good sources of other vitamins and minerals needed for the diet. The key knows the food’s net carbs, the total carbs minus the fiber content, to add to your meal plan.
An avocado, for example, has 17 grams of carbs and 13 grams of fiber. Using the net carbs’ formula, you’ll see that the total net carbs are only 4 grams, making it safe to eat.
2. Fiction: Fatty Food is Keto Food
Fact: Healthy fats from unrefined foods are what you want for a Keto diet.
Another great misconception about the Keto diet is that any fat would do since we want to have more fat in the body. However, this is certainly not the case, as dangerous types of fats should be avoided, like processed oils and trans-fat.
The aim is to have a healthy body, so choosing the right kind of fats is what we need to do. You want healthy fats from organic and unrefined foods like coconuts, avocados, olives, and the like for the Keto diet. Meats should come from grass-fed and properly-raised animals to ensure you extract the best fats from your meals.
3. Fiction: Keto Diet is Just a Fad
Fact: Ketogenic diet has seen use as early as the 1920s.
With different diet plans coming and going over the past decades, it’s relatively easy to assume that the keto diet is one of these diet fads. However, physicians during the early 1900s used the ketogenic diet for epilepsy treatment (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19049574/) and gained popularity for at least 20 years.
While the treatment showed positive results for treating childhood epilepsy, the birth of modern antiepileptic drugs saw a decline in use for the diet.
4. Fiction: Keto Diet Lets Everyone Lose Weight
Fact: Keto does not work with everyone
Everyone and their mother preaches the fantastic weight loss effects of the Keto diet, whether on social media, advertisements, or word of mouth. This explosion of praises gives two impressions among the general public:
1. Keto is only for weight loss
2. It works on everyone
And while we want to believe so, this is not the standard.
First, although losing those extra pounds does happen when adapting a Keto-centric diet, it’s just one of the program’s many health benefits. Its focus on limiting carb intake is an excellent method for controlling the body’s insulin and blood sugar levels. Also, placing the body on ketosis increases the production of ketones needed for the brain’s energy supply.
5. Fiction: You Can’t Sustain a Keto Diet
Fact: Cravings disappear once fully adapted to the Keto diet
Once criticism given to the Keto diet is how difficult it seems to maintain since the diet cuts off a significant portion of what people eat regularly. Since modern food is too carb-focused, our bodies become dependent on it, to the point that carb reduction causes adverse effects to the body. There are also food cravings to consider, which is challenging, especially since most well-loved treats are carb bombs.
As with most things, getting adapted to the program significantly reduces unwanted side effects, cravings for carb-loaded foods. The combination of proper meal planning and discipline does wonders while transitioning into a fully adapted keto diet. Once your body has embraced the diet, cravings slowly reduce to the point that they entirely disappear.
6. Fiction: Keto is Risky for Your Health
Fact: Keto diet is not bad for anyone
Many illnesses’ people associate with moving into a Ketogenic diet, including constipation, osteoporosis, kidney problems, and so on. There’s also this notion that eating fatty foods makes a person fat.
According to recent studies, fatty foods in themselves do not make a person fat, but high-carb diets lead to weight gain, obesity, and other health risks. In reality, high consumption of foods with low levels of carbohydrates helps improve a person’s overall health. Fat plays an essential role in blood clotting, muscle movement, absorption of vitamins, and protecting the nerves.
7. Fiction: It’s Just Another Version of the Atkins Diet
Fact: Keto diet focuses on carb elimination, while the Atkins diet goes with a low to moderate carb approach.
The Atkins diet is another popular dietary plan known for its low-carb approach, similar to Keto. However, there is a significant difference between the two that makes Keto stand out as a better option.
In a Keto diet, carb consumption is kept to a minimum, to the point that eliminating carbs from the system is expected. In the Atkins diet, while carb content starts off low, it gradually increases over time, albeit in moderate levels.
Takeaways
Embracing the Keto diet makes a world of wonders in the human body. And as with most life-altering things, there are myths associated with the Keto diet that could scare off some from trying it out. Best consult an expert before taking on a Keto diet to guarantee the best results and minimal risks.
